Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
April 25, 2014

Stop looking outside and look within for a solution on how to develop science and technology in Barbados and move to the next level.
That bit of advice from Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology with the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Dr Colin Depradine, as he spoke to primary school principals on the topic Vitalizing Science Education during a Science Teacher Readiness workshop at the Erdiston Teachers Training College today.Some of the principals and senior teachers drawn from across the island’s primary schools taking part in today’s seminar.
“We have been spending considerable amounts of time observing and watching other people and other models that they have been studying. While they have been succeeding, we are still looking. One thing that they have in common is that they have adopted the best practices to suit their own particular needs.
“We know what the best practices are, we know what others are doing; we just need to tailor it to suit our particular circumstance. That is what our model needs to be. What we need and what is good for us,” he said.
Depradine noted that while there might be some challenges in getting funding, this should not be seen as a deterrent.
“Some of the larger countries that are successful have large amounts of funding available to them that we, as small islands, might never have, but that shouldn’t stop us. In creating your own model, you know that you have financial constraints, so you work around that by using what you have,” Depradine suggested.